AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ Used By Ashley Madison Hackers

The hacking of more than 30 million accounts on the controversial adultery website Ashley Madison has been global news. In a press conference this week in Toronto, police officials gave more details about the data breach, including how an AC/DC song was tied to the hack.

Journalists at the press conference were handed numerous documents as they arrived, including an AC/DC lyric sheet. Many were puzzled on why that would be included, but an explanation was soon given.

According to the New York Times, the police gave details on how employees of Avid Life Media, which owns Ashley Madison, learned about the hackers' attack. When they arrived at work on July 12 and opened their laptops, the song "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC started playing with a message demanding that Avid Life shut down the website.

With the lyrics referring to breaking all the rules after meeting some "dancers who gave a good time" in Texas and ending up "caught in the middle of a railroad track" before the chorus of "You've been Thunderstruck," it's not difficult to see why the hackers chose that song.

A police official says the hack that was carried out by a group calling themselves the Impact Team was one of the largest data breaches in the world. Fallout from the information released by the hackers has included extortion attempts, and police say they have received two unconfirmed reports of suicides related to the data breach.

Avid Life Media is offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those behind the hack. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are among those involved in the investigation.